John and Diana are traveling around the country with a 37-foot RV and an 18-year-old cat. This is their story.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

St.Charles, Missouri

We will be parked for one more week here in St.Charles, and then will hit the road again. It has been nice visiting family and friends, but we have had two tornado scares and that is enough. The last one was Sunday when a tornado touched down about 10 miles from here. There has also been a lot of rain which has created a lot of standing water that has brought on tiny insects. They have invaded our home.

A variety of circumstances has necessitated us staying in St.Charles longer than usual, so we have taken that time to explore the town. One evening we happened to find Blanchette Park which has a small memorial garden. While walking through it we came upon the "Christmas Box Angel".

A sign under the angel notes that the memorial is a place of love and healing for those who have lost children. Flowers, trinkets, and toys have been placed at the base of the statue, as well as small stuffed animals which have been clipped on the angels wings.

It is a fairly easy walk on the Katy Trail from our home into historic St.Charles. As I mentioned in an earlier posting several years ago, St.Charles was once an Indian village of 450 people which Lewis and Clark visited in the early 1800s. From 1821 until 1825 it was the state capitol of Missouri. The sign on the building says "Dry Goods Peck Bros. Hardware". The first floor of the Peck brother's building housed a general store and Ruluff Peck's family residence. The second floor of the two adjoining brick buildings was divided and used as the House and Senate chambers, an office for the governor and a small committee room. Today it is a Missouri State Historic Site and visitors can take a guided tour through those rooms.

I always enjoy visiting Main Street in historic St.Charles. Many of the area shops and restaurants and other historic attractions are housed in original 18th and 19th century buildings. Pictured above is "Stone Row". The buildings were built in 1820. Burlington stone, used to construct the buildings, was quarried in the same city block. Another interesting building, called the"Queen of Main Street" is pictured below.

It was built by the Odd Fellows Hall Association in 1878. A bank occupied the first floor, a concert hall on the second and a Moose Lodge on the third floor. Beside the many interesting older buildings, Main Street is quite picturesque with many small gardens which are quite pretty during this time of the year.